GENRE: In Focus

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship It is an 8th grade science class. Students are learning the concepts of Force and Pressure. The lesson starts off with activities, involving them in a game —a tug of war or arm wrestling each other. Throughout the lesson, there are several images and videos that demonstrate the concepts. Their homework for the day is to help at home in preparing rotis, which would involve activities such as separating the hardened dough, rolling it etc — all connected to the concepts that they had studied earlier that day. This is…

No treatment, no vote, is the battle cry from Jodhpur, about to go to polls in end-November. As the incidence of dengue fever rises, awareness and anger against the government is shooting up. The Dengue virus is a global citizen, but loves cities, especially India's dirty towns. This year, it seems to be partial to urban Maharashtra, which reported 4,667 cases by September 30, 2018, according to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). This was followed by Odisha with 3,883 cases, Kerala (3,660), Andhra Pradesh (3,314), Himachal Pradesh (3,303) and Rajasthan (3,022). The virus also seems to like the southern…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When Shobha Suryanarayan, a volunteer with Acharyas for a Better Community (ABC), first approached Vijayanagar Lower Primary School in Whitefield, the students could barely string together a sentence in English. The school had over 50 children from classes 1 to 5, but there was only one teacher and a headmistress (HM) to teach all of them. Children in classes 1, 2 and 3 would sit together; they were taught by the HM once she finished her official work. Children in classes 4 and 5 would sit together, and were taught…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship “My children go to a private school Madam, it is close to home, they learn English and mathematics”, says Selvi with a big smile on her face. Selvi, a Marathahalli-based domestic worker, like many others from low income households in Bangalore, finds private schools a better choice for her child. Research has often pointed out that there is not much difference in the learning outcomes of children in government schools and in private schools. Yet in Bengaluru, like many urban centres in the country, children across income groups are flocking…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities At a time when diesel and petrol prices have gone through the roof, a certain ambiguity prevails among many vehicle owners and operators in Chennai. They mull over more economical options, and one auto rickshaw driver sums it up saying, “Anything that is not as expensive as petrol and diesel would help us make some profit.” While street-side discussions focus mostly on the cost aspect, an equally pertinent and critical angle is that of pollution. According to 'The Urban Commute And How It Contributes to Pollution and…

After having completed the first phase of the Telangana Land Records Updation Programme, targeted at improving documentation of rural land records, the state government will be initiating the next phase focused on covering urban land records. While the first phase has been hailed as a success, there have been some glaring omissions from the scope of the overall exercise. Thus, it would be a good idea to look into some of these deficiencies before initiating the next phase of updates, looking at urban land records. In November 2017, the Chief Minister of Telangana made a lengthy statement in the state…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities The drastic rise in air pollution levels in Indian cities over the years has been a cause of extreme concern, especially after the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that several Indian cities were part of the top 20 most polluted cities in terms of PM 2.5 levels. As part of a recent study by Aishwarya Sudhir ( supported by Co-Media Lab and Climate Trends), titled Bengaluru’s rising Air Quality Crisis, air pollution levels were tested for PM 2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter with diameter less that 2.5…

Post monsoon, the Dengue dread is back in our cities, with over 650 cases reported in the national capital alone. In 2017, data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) and National Health Profile 2018 indicated the maximum number of deaths in a decade and a 300% hike in the number of cases. Will there be a fall in the graph this year? There are mixed reports so far, with some evidence of control in a few cities, but a sharp spike in others. The reason for the continuing incidence is simple: poor urban management and lack of cleanliness. But what causes dengue and…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship Shrinking agriculture land, water scarcity and other challenges in traditional farming have made most farmers go for chemical fertilisers and pesticides to maximise yields of fruits and vegetables. This also calls for the need to grow safe, chemical-free food. It has led to different approaches, like organic farming and controlled farming practices like greenhouse farming. There are also dedicated farms collaborating with dedicated takers of the produce like apartment residents, for a fixed sum each month. There are different business models adopted by different people. Urban consumers of Bengaluru have…

In 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean drinking water as a human right. Yet, a large section of the Indian population suffers from the lack of it. A 2017 report by WaterAid India, titled Wild Water: The State of the World’s Water, stated that around 63 million of India’s 833 million rural population has no access to clean drinking water. The larger problem, however, lies in the lack of equal access to clean and safe drinking water for all citizens in the country, especially the poor, in both rural and urban areas. Among the middle or higher income…